Momma
by lugia flyhight
Summary: Once every year while the herd rests Diego looks upon the nightly heavens to remember his mother...


**Momma….**

**One-shot**

**The snow fell at such a steady pace, the wind was dieing and tomorrow's frost had yet to come. The moon was now casting it's calm yet grieving silver upon its cold atmosphere. The ice that claimed the land as its own was now soft yet it still gnawed the flesh of all but a few mammals resting for the adventures of a new day.**

**Sid the sloth was tending to his fire giving the warmth to his friends. The fire was small but it was enough to cast a reassuring glow in the area. Manfred and Ellie lay down there bodies and prepared for the temptations of sleep. The possums were well in the pleasant land of slumber and the only ones awake were Diego the sabre-toothed tiger and Sid. The sloth put his hands upon the flames and listened to the soothing sound of the wood splitting and cracking amongst the intensatity of the heat.**

**The snow continued to play with the dieing wind.**

**Diego was unable to sleep yet he wanted no conversation with the annoyance known as Sid and walked off. Sid being curious watched him yet didn't utter a word. His friend was a little distance and instead of lying down Diego just stared at the sky; Sid found that upon the tiger's face was a look of longing and his eyes filled with melancholy.**

**The weather, the season, the time… this night the wind was low and the snow fell at such a steady pace that the tiger's memory was rendered. Oh this was the very night in which he cherished the last moments with his dieing mother. He lowered his head in hopes his tears would hold back and leave him. The snow frolicked and the moons silver shown in its metaphorical comfort. He remembered… he never forgot and it played in his head every year….**

"_Momma?"_

_A cub no more then a few months old scrambled to a body that was his mother. Her breathing was laboured and heavy._

"_Son…"_

"_Wants wrong?"_

"_Son… I'm very sick…"_

_As any child they are naïve and he didn't understand what she meant_

"_You'll get better…right?"_

_She didn't answer and the tiger cub turned his gaze to his father looking for an answer. He just smiled but his eyes were filled with sadness._

"_Papa?"_

"_Boy…you know what your mom will like to make her feel better"_

_Again his naivety was again showing as his ears perked up._

"_What will make her better?"_

"_Son… you know her favourite prey is fish… right?"_

_The cub nodded_

"_That's my boy… I left it just outside of the den and… and I need you to get for your mother…son, there's not much time"_

_The cub didn't understand and thought that if he didn't hurry someone else would take the fish as their own and with that he scurried towards the outside of the den. For any adult it was just a few foot paws but to a cub it was a long stretch. Not even halfway he was puffing his chest with fatigue._

"_Momma, I'll get that fish for you, then you'll get better and take care of me and papa again"_

_Despite the reality in which was to come he still went on. He only stopped for a short while to rest and the thought of his mother getting better burned in his head. The cub picked himself up and ran. The muscles in his legs had not developed properly, they buckled and he fell. Tears welled up in his eyes but failed to fall. He again picked himself up and scrambled to the outside of the den._

_The cub of but a few months was exhausted but he made it. Now he had to find the fish. The snow didn't pelt him as he once thought, it was soft and kind and the wind had died. He lifted his nose trying to find the scent but alas his smell hadn't developed yet. His sight had found something and he crawled to get to it._

"_Owww, who's that?"_

_His small head had hit the leg of a wolf. The wolf had the fish in his mouth and the cub's eyes once again welled up in tears._

"_Please… my momma needs that to get better and papa said that it was just her fill, it's gonna make her smile. Papa said that's she's gonna meet someone in the clouds tonight."_

_The wolf just peered down at him and grunted. The cub looked at him and his tears fell, one by one. The wolf was about to walk away when the small infant said…_

"_Please… sir Momma…she…been sick for awhile and I don't want her to die"_

_The wolf took pity on the infant for he knew the boy was innocent to the fact he was wrong that the fish would make his mother better. The dog like creature lay the fish down and told him…_

"_Tiger infant, Get this fish to your mother for she wants to spend her last moments with you"_

_The child gratefully pulled the fish with such determination that the wolf felt sorry for what was to come. He pulled and pulled the fish, which was almost as big as him. But nonetheless he pulled it for his mother. His little legs buckled and withdrew but he kept his momentum and eventually he made it. He huffed and puffed and was extremely tired._

"_Son?"_

_The cub's excitement grew._

"_Papa I got it I got it, momma's gonna get better!"_

_However his father didn't share his happiness, he bent down and nuzzled his son._

"_Papa?"_

_His father was about to answer when his mother called; her voice was frail and her breathing now shallow. The cub scrambled over to the body of his mother whilst his father placed the fish against his mates front paw._

"_Son, there's my boy…"_

"_It's ok now momma I got the fish and now you'll get better"_

"_Son…I'm not going to get better…"_

_The cub lay down next to his mother and licked her nose._

"_Yeah you will I got the"_

_His mother cut him off._

"_No Son I know you tried…but it's my time"_

_The worry now etched within the cub's voice_

"_Momma? Time for what?"_

_She looked at her son with pride._

"_I'm going to meet a very nice person in the clouds… be a good boy for your father…be a good boy… Diego…"_

"_Momma?"_

_She didn't answer_

"_Momma!"_

_Diego tried to push his mother awake but his efforts were in vain._

"_Momma!?"_

_His father approached him and he saw his Son's tears, his own falling as well. He knelt down and reassured his son…_

Diego remembered that night as if it was yesterday he lifted his head and looked at the moon. Sid was still watching his friend and wondered why he was so anguished. The tiger looked towards the unforgiving heavens and only then did he let one lone tear fall to the soft yet cold ice...

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**All leading charcters ,entioned apart from Diego's parents do not belong to me, this fiction was made just for fun as in no means to make money.**

**_LUGIA FLYHIGHT_**


End file.
